Railway signaling



July 21, 1931. c. A. BROOKS RAILWAY SIGNALING Filed Dec. 10, 1929' INVENTOR: CJtBr-ooks,

Patented July 21, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CHARLES A. BROOKS, or. SWISSVALE, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE UNION SWITCH 82; SIGNAL COMPANY, OF SWISSVALE,

PENNSYLVANIA RAILWAY SIGNALING Application filed December 10, 1929. Serial Not 413,023.

proved means for interlocking the control of two signals governing trafiic in opposite directions through a block, so that neither s1gnal can be cleared unless the other signal' is at stop. 1 r

I will describe one form of signaling apparatus embodying my invention, and will then point out the novel features thereof in claims.

The accompanying drawing is a diagrammat1c v1ew showing one form of apparatus embodying my invention.

characters 1 and l designate the track rails 1 of a stretch of railway track along which trafiic moves in both directions. These rails are divided by ins'ulated joints 2 to form a block A-B, and the rails of this block are further divided by similar joints to form two track sections AC and (1-13. Each of these track sections is provided with the usual track circuit, comprising a battery 12 connected across the rails at one end of the section and a track relay T connected across the rails at the otherend of the section. Traflic moving toward the right through block AB is governed by a signal E andtraific moving toward the left throughlthis block governed by a signal E 7 Located at the point'A is a normally open remotecontrolled relay S5. The controlling circuits for this relay form nopart of my present invention, and it is suflicient to say that the relay may be closed or energized at will'by manual operation'of a suitable circuit controller at a remote point, such as a despatchersofiice. cated at the point B.-

A similar relay 8? is lo- Also located at point A is a directional relay D having a normal winding 10, a reverse winding 11, and an armature 7 Which is moved to a normal or a reverse position according as the normal or reverse winding is energized, and which armature remains in the position to which it was last moved when the relay becomes de-energized. A similar relay D islocated at point B.

' Also located at point A is a normally open signal controlling relay H and a similar 1 relay H is located at point B. Each signal 'F with a suitable distinguishing exponent. Referring to the drawing, the reference When the remote controlled relay S is open, the normal winding 10 ofrelay D is energized by'a circuit which passes from the upper terminal of battery F ,'through winding 10 of relay D is energized by asimilar circuit when the associated remote controlled relay S is open. 1

i I will now assume that, with the parts in the positions in which they; are shown in the 5 drawing, the despatcher desires to clear sig- .nal E in'order to permit a train moving toward the rightto pass through block AB.

To do this, he will cause relay S to become energized or closed, thereby opening the circuit for the normal winding 10 of relay D at contact 6. A circuit for the reverse winding 11 of relay D will then be closed, which circuit passes from the lower terminal of battery F through contact 7 of relay D in the normal position, back contact 8 of relay H back point of contact 3 of relay S contact 4 of each track relay T and T front point of contact 3 of relay S winding 11 of relay PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF D and contacts 5 of track relays T and T to the middle point of battery F The energization of winding 11 of relay D will cause armature 7 of this relay to swing to the left or reverse position, whereupon relay I-I will become energized by a circuit which passes from the lower terminal of battery F through contact 7 and the winding of relay H to the middle point of the same battery. Signal E will then be moved to the clear position by a circuit which passes from terminal B of a suitable source of current, through front contact 13 of track relay T front contact 9 of relay H and the operating mechanism of signal E to terminal 0 of the same source of current.

It will be observed that the circuit for winding 11 of relay D cannot be closed unless contact 7 of relay D is in the normal position and back Contact 8 of relay H is closed, thereby insuring that signal E is'i'n the stop position. Furthermore, it will be observed that this circuit cannot be closed unless both track relays T and T B are energized, that is, unless the entire block AB is unoccupied.

When the train enters section AC, it will deenergize track relay T thereby opening the circuit for signal E at contact 13. Furthermore, the opening of contacts 4 and 5 of track relay T will open the circuit for the reverse winding 11 of relay D, but armato re contact 7 of this relay will remain in the reverse position, so that relay I-I will remain energized. hen the train passes out of section A-C and into section CB, track relay T will become energized, but track relay T will become de-energized. The circuit for winding 11 of relay D will therefore remain open, but signal E will return to the proceed position, because its circuit will again become closed at contact 13 of track relay T. The foregoing statement is based on the assumption that relay S remains energized. If the operator has again (lo-energized relay S by the time the train passes point C, winding 10 of relay D will become energized to restore armature contact 7 of this relay to its normal position, there-by de-energizing relay H so that signal E will not return to the proceed position when the train passes point C. In that event it will be necessary to wait until the train passes point 13 before signal E can again be cleared.

The operation of the apparatus in order to permit a train moving toward the left to enter block AB will be obvious from the foregoing without detailed explanation.

Although I have herein shown and de scribed only one form of apparatus embodying mv invention, it is understood that various changes and modifications may be made therein within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In combination, a block of railway track, track circuits including track relays for said block, a normally open remote controlled relay S for each end of said block, a directional relay D for each end of said block having a normal and a reverse winding and an armature which is moved to a normal or a reverse position according as the normal or reverse winding is energized and which remains in the position to which it was last moved when the relay becomes de-energized, a signal relay H for each end of said block, a circuit for the normal winding of each D relay including a back contact of the associated S relay a circuit for the reverse winding of each relay D including a normal contact of the D relay for the other end of the block and a back contact of the H relay for the other end of the block and a back contact of the S relay for the other end of the block as well as a front contact of the associated S relay and front contacts of said track relays, a circuit for each H relay including a reverse contact of the associated D relay, and signals for said block controlled by said H relays.

2. In combination, a block of railway track, track circuits including track relays for said block, a normally open remote controlled relay S for each end of said block, a directional relay D for each end of said block having a normal and a reverse winding and an armature which is moved to a normal or a reverse position according as the normal or reverse winding is energized and which remains in the position to which it was last moved when the relay becomes de-cnergized, a circuit for the normal winding of each D relay including a back contact of the associated S relay, a circuit for the reverse winding of each D relay including a normal contact of the D relay for the other end of the block and a back contact of the S relay for the other end of the block as well as a front contact of the associated S relay and front contacts of said track relays, and signals for said block controlled by said D-relays.

3; In combination, a block of railway track, track circuits including track relays for said block, a normally open remote controlled relay S for each end of said block, a directional relay D for each end of said block having a normal and a reverse winding and an armature which is moved to a normal or a reverse position according as the normal or reverse winding is energized and which remains in the position to which it was last moved when the relay becomes de-energized, a signal relay H for each end of said block, means for energizing the normal winding of each D relay when the associated S relay is open means for energizing the reverse Winding of each D relay when the associated S relay is closed provided the armature of the D relay for the other end of the block is in normal position and the H relay for such other end of the block is open and the S relay at such other end of the block is open and also provided all of said track relays are energized, means for energizing each H relay 10 when the armature of the associated D relay is in reverse position, and signals for said block controlled by said H relays.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

CHARLES A. BROOKS. 

